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Hello, I'm new to the forums and new to motorcycles. My father-in-law has an 1100 Harley Davidson, and is begging to teach me how to ride. I did not feel comfortable taking my first ride on an 1100cc engine, nor my father-in-law's brand new Harley Davidson.
So, while scouring the Craigslist, I recently bought a 1978 Suzuki GS550 for 450$. Ran perfectly fine and kicked over several times from Youngstown OH to Sharon PA (30-45min). Now that it's home, I was able to ride this bike around the block quite a few times. When we were messing with the clutch adjustment (seemed to be slipping, at least according to father-in-law), it seemed as if the battery died. Battery seemed to die about 3 times during the 4 days that I had it. Bought a new battery, of course this one doesn't fit well with the bike's metal battery chassis. When taking a closer look with the seat off, the welds look pretty bad. The guy chopped the frame in order to fit this new seat on, which barely fits on there. One of the welds where the guy chopped the bike, it seemed to have cracked the weld joint. I can try and get a guy to fix it, however now the bike won't turn over! It's acting as if the battery is dead yet again!
My brother-in-law and I hooked up the battery to a trickle charger, cranked up the knob and hooked it to the bike while it was hooked into the bike. The bike turned right over. So we figured, maybe the bike's ground is bad. We replaced the one ground coming directly from the battery. This seemed to work, however now the electric start no longer works. We were able to get the bike to turn over with the kick start, but now I can't seem to get it to turn over anymore.
The guy told me that the bike has been sitting in his garage for about a year, and he supposedly found it in the back of a barn for an unknown period of time. He painted it up, swapped the seat, gave away the bags (2 WEEKS BEFORE I PURCHASED THE BIKE!!!!), then stopped. I'm hoping to get this bike restored, but the welds are making me worried.
I'm going to have to tear the bike down and rebuild the carbs, possibly the engine, and general maintenance that one would do to an older bike (any tips you can provide is greatly appreciated). Is it worth tearing the bike down then mounting back to the original frame, after re welding the frame correctly, or should I attempt to purchase a frame and transfer the pieces to the new frame as I'm tearing it down and cleaning it? (This may assist in my efforts to find out why the bike isn't running properly).
So, while scouring the Craigslist, I recently bought a 1978 Suzuki GS550 for 450$. Ran perfectly fine and kicked over several times from Youngstown OH to Sharon PA (30-45min). Now that it's home, I was able to ride this bike around the block quite a few times. When we were messing with the clutch adjustment (seemed to be slipping, at least according to father-in-law), it seemed as if the battery died. Battery seemed to die about 3 times during the 4 days that I had it. Bought a new battery, of course this one doesn't fit well with the bike's metal battery chassis. When taking a closer look with the seat off, the welds look pretty bad. The guy chopped the frame in order to fit this new seat on, which barely fits on there. One of the welds where the guy chopped the bike, it seemed to have cracked the weld joint. I can try and get a guy to fix it, however now the bike won't turn over! It's acting as if the battery is dead yet again!
My brother-in-law and I hooked up the battery to a trickle charger, cranked up the knob and hooked it to the bike while it was hooked into the bike. The bike turned right over. So we figured, maybe the bike's ground is bad. We replaced the one ground coming directly from the battery. This seemed to work, however now the electric start no longer works. We were able to get the bike to turn over with the kick start, but now I can't seem to get it to turn over anymore.
The guy told me that the bike has been sitting in his garage for about a year, and he supposedly found it in the back of a barn for an unknown period of time. He painted it up, swapped the seat, gave away the bags (2 WEEKS BEFORE I PURCHASED THE BIKE!!!!), then stopped. I'm hoping to get this bike restored, but the welds are making me worried.
I'm going to have to tear the bike down and rebuild the carbs, possibly the engine, and general maintenance that one would do to an older bike (any tips you can provide is greatly appreciated). Is it worth tearing the bike down then mounting back to the original frame, after re welding the frame correctly, or should I attempt to purchase a frame and transfer the pieces to the new frame as I'm tearing it down and cleaning it? (This may assist in my efforts to find out why the bike isn't running properly).
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